Oral hygiene, like brushing and flossing, is the foundation of a healthy mouth. But did you know that neglecting your oral hygiene could lead to something much more severe than cavities or gum disease? Emerging research suggests that poor oral care contributes to the development of oral cancer. Oral cancer is a condition often overshadowed by other forms of cancer. However, it is dangerous and can develop silently over time. Read on to learn the risk factors and symptoms to catch it early and possibly prevent its occurrence altogether.

Understanding Oral Cancer

Oral cancer occurs in the mouth, on the tongue, gums, inner cheeks, lips, or at the bottom of the mouth. It usually develops from minor changes in the tissues lining the mouth, so it is often diagnosed at a later stage when it has progressed.

The cells in the mouth become malignant and start to divide, forming tumors. These tumors can also extend to the oral structures and metastasize to other body parts, such as the lymph nodes and lungs.

Oral cancer can manifest itself early as symptoms attributed to other non-threatening diseases such as cold sores or ulcers. Any ulcer swelling or color change that takes over two weeks to heal should not be overlooked, as this might signal the cancerous cells.

If oral cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the chances of survival are much higher than in the advanced stage. Also, treatments are not complicated in the early stages. However, if oral cancer is not treated early enough, it can lead to the inability to eat, talk, or effectively breathe. It can alter the structure of the mouth and affect general health.

Dental check-ups are essential in the early detection of disease. Your dentist may be able to detect any irregularities that you might overlook.

Signs and Symptoms of Oral Cancer

Oral cancer is a stealthy disease that might take time to show symptoms such as pain. For this reason, the disease’s symptoms can be considered minor issues that do not require medical attention until the disease advances. That is why being able to recognize the signs is your first defense line in seeking early treatment.

The signs might be subtle initially, but they last, indicating a deeper oral issue. These signs include:

  • You may have a sore or an ulcer in your mouth that will not heal. Unlike normal canker sores, which tend to heal within one to two weeks, these sores persist and may even increase in size.

  • White, red, or a mixture of white and red patches can be found in the gums, tongue, or lining of the mouth without any pain or discomfort

  • Bleeding in the mouth, especially when it happens without cause

  • You might feel a lump in the tissues of the cheek, gum, or tongue

  • Difficulty swallowing, speaking, or moving your tongue and jaw

  • The numbness or tenderness in the face, neck, or mouth may even spread to the ears.

How Poor Oral Hygiene Causes Oral Cancer

Many bad bacteria can grow in your mouth if you do not care for your teeth and gums. These bacteria, over time, release toxins that erode the tissues of the gums, tongue, and cheeks. The toxins provide a conducive environment for other major health complications, like oral cancer.

Oral cancer appears if the mouth is exposed to irritants such as plaque and tartar buildup caused by poor hygiene. If these irritants are not eliminated by regular brushing, flossing, or dental checkups, they cause infections that erode the tissues in your mouth. These infections lead to pain and swelling and cause cell alterations and their transformation into cancerous cells.

The process is slow, but many risks characterize it. If you do not clean your mouth daily, food residues and bacteria cause chronic inflammation. This inflammation can lead to conditions such as gum disease, which worsens your oral health even further. Gum disease is associated with cancer, especially if you already have other risk factors, such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

Unchecked Bacterial Overgrowth

If you do not brush your teeth, the bacteria in your mouth reproduce and grow, creating a layer of sticky deposits called plaque on the surface of your teeth and gum line. This bacterial overgrowth can lead to constant infections that compromise the tissue lining of the mouth. Over time, this constant bacterial attack may suppress the body’s immune system, and this inflammation becomes a breeding ground for developing cancerous cells.

Easy Access to the Bloodstream

When you fail to brush your teeth and maintain oral hygiene, you develop gum disease, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Once these harmful bacteria have penetrated your bloodstream, they spread to other parts of your body, leading to infections and inflammation.

The bacteria that enter your system can trigger an immune response and thus cause chronic inflammation. Tissues become affected, and cellular transformation occurs, which forms cancerous tissues, including oral cancer.

Reduced Cleansing of the Palate

Your mouth can clean itself through saliva but cannot reach the palate area if you do not regularly clean your teeth. When plaque and bacteria build up on your teeth and gums, they form a film over the teeth that interferes with the saliva. This may be a reduced saliva production or the flow rate, making your mouth lose its natural barrier against most pathogens. If this cleansing is not done, bacteria can grow and cause constant infections and may even be a factor in oral cancer.

Saliva is known to act as a buffer and rinse debris and chemicals that may be abrasive to the tissues of your mouth. This cleansing mechanism is supposed to ensure that such substances are cleared out of the body as soon as possible. When this system is impaired, toxic material stays in the body longer than is desirable.

The tissues in your palate may also become damaged over time, increasing your chances of developing cellular mutations that can lead to cancerous growth.

Delayed Cancer Detection

Oral cancer may go unnoticed when you do not care for your teeth properly. If you do not go for dental checkups or practice good oral hygiene, you may dismiss the symptoms of cancer, like sores that do not heal, lumps, or bleeding gums. What might be thought of as a mere rash, pimple, or infection could be cancer in the early stages.

The longer you wait to seek treatment, the higher the risk that the cancer condition will progress to the next level, which is more severe and needs more intensive management.

Routine dental check-ups play a vital role in early detection. Your dentist is trained to spot abnormal changes in your mouth that you may not recognize, and regular cleanings help reveal any hidden issues before they become life-threatening.

Maintaining good oral hygiene and keeping up with dental appointments reduces the risk of delayed diagnosis. Also, if oral cancer does develop, it can be caught and treated early, when it is most manageable.

Signs That You Have Bad Oral Hygiene

It is difficult to notice when you have poor oral hygiene habits since it is a gradual process. However, these may just be considered minute problems that may eventually lead to oral cancer. These signs are

  • A foul smell in the mouth. Halitosis usually indicates the formation of plaque in your mouth, which is a breeding ground for bacteria that cause infections and gum diseases. This bacterium inhabits the tight crevices between your teeth and tongue, along your gum line, and anywhere else you can imagine that food debris might linger and produce its stench.

  • Gum bleeding. If your gums are red or swollen and bleed when you brush or floss, this may be a sign of gingivitis, an early sign of gum disease. Gingivitis can lead to periodontitis, a more severe form of gum disease that can cause tooth loss and bone decay.

  • Formation of plaque and tartar on the teeth. Plaque is a soft deposit of bacteria that forms on your teeth and, if not cleaned, turns into calculus. Scaling is the process of removing tartar, and this can only be done by a dental professional. Its presence contributes to bacterial growth, increasing your risk of oral cancer.

  • Yellowing or discolored teeth. While some discoloration can result from dietary habits, such as drinking coffee or tea, a lack of proper brushing and flossing exacerbates the problem. Plaque buildup contributes to the yellow hue that many people struggle to eliminate.

How Oral Cancer Affects Your Mouth

Oral cancer affects the structure and function of the mouth in a patient. It is a slow, progressive disease that starts affecting the tissues that form the lining of your mouth once it is contracted. These are changes that are initially minor and asymptomatic. If left untreated, they might evolve into life-altering complications.

This cancer affects your speaking and swallowing and causes changes in the appearance of your mouth, face, and jaw.

You could reach a stage where oral cancer is evident, and you develop ulcers in your mouth that do not heal. These sores can become painful and larger, making eating, speaking, or any activity in the affected areas unbearable.

Sometimes, tumors develop in the tissues of your cheeks, gums, or tongue and may present as lumps or swelling. These growths obstruct the normal functioning of your mouth, so you may experience challenges in chewing or swallowing food or even smiling.

If the cancer is not detected early enough, it is likely to spread to the lymph nodes in your neck or to other parts of your body, such as your lungs. When this happens, the disease becomes more complicated to manage and could even need invasive procedures such as surgery or radiation therapy. These treatments, however, result in physical irreversible alterations of the structure of your mouth.

Oral cancer can also damage nerves, resulting in numbness in the face or mouth. This may make it hard to identify other complications or mishaps or even feel pain or discomfort as one should in specific body parts. If left untreated, cancer can lead to chronic pain in the jaw, face, or neck, which would greatly reduce the patient’s quality of life.

Risk Factors for Oral Health

Identifying the risk factors for oral diseases such as cancer can help prevent them and maintain oral health.

Smoking

Tobacco products are among the most significant contributors to oral cancer. Smoking cigarettes or cigars and using snuff or chewing tobacco puts your mouth in direct contact with carcinogenic chemicals that are capable of affecting the cells in your oral tissues. This constant exposure raises the chances of developing cancerous lesions.

Alcohol Consumption

Consuming alcohol can irritate the lining of your mouth and throat. This makes a conducive environment for cancer development. When smoking tobacco is combined with alcohol consumption, the risk is compounded as alcohol is a solvent, and it carries the carcinogens deeper into the tissues.

Deficiency of Nutrients

A diet lacking essential nutrients like vitamins A, C, and E leads to poor oral health. These vitamins are critical for maintaining healthy membranes that line the mouth, throat, stomach, and other body parts to heal. This weakness is likely to cause your body to be more vulnerable to infections that may set in your mouth and turn into other severe diseases.

Viral Infections

Some viruses, like the human papillomavirus (HPV), are linked with oral cancer. HPV can cause cell changes in the mouth and throat. You can avoid illicit sexual practices that lead to the development of HPV or be vaccinated against HPV, as these measures can reduce your chances of contracting oral cancer linked to the virus.

Prolonged Exposure To The Sun

Lip cancer is caused in part by chronic exposure to the sun without the appropriate protection. The ultraviolet (UV) radiation can harm the skin on the lips, resulting in precancerous lesions or cancerous tumors in the long run. Lip balms with SPF and avoiding prolonged sun exposure can mitigate this risk.

Hereditary Predisposition

If you have a family history of oral cancer or other cancers, you have an elevated risk. Regular check-ups and screenings can help detect any early signs of cancer, providing an opportunity for early intervention.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Oral Cancer

Oral cancer screening is a complex process comprising several steps. If you have signs associated with oral cancer, the dentist conducts a thorough examination of your mouth, throat, and neck.

In this examination, they will be keen on identifying any sores, lumps, or discoloration that may suggest the presence of cancerous cells. A biopsy is usually done next to help make a diagnosis or confirm one. It involves the removal of a small piece of tissue from the affected area and examining the tissue in a laboratory for the presence of cancerous cells. A biopsy may be done in a dental or medical office and may require local anesthesia to make the patient as comfortable as possible.

If the results are positive for cancer, more imaging may be necessary to see how far the cancer has spread and if it has spread to other areas of the body using X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs.

After an oral cancer diagnosis, the next step is to develop a treatment plan that depends on the stage of the cancer, the area affected, and the patient's overall health. Conventional approaches to managing the disease may involve surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of all.

Surgery is the most common treatment for oral cancer, mainly if the tumor is localized. The surgeon removes the cancerous tissue and a certain amount of the normal tissue to ensure no cancer cells are left.

If the cancer has spread to other areas in the body, intrusive surgery, including reconstructive surgery, is required to restore the mouth's use and appearance. Radiation therapy employs radiation in the form of rays to eliminate cancerous cells. This treatment may be helpful for tumors and cancers that have spread to other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells anywhere in the body. It is usually applied as an adjuvant to surgery or radiation therapy and is most commonly used in advanced cancer. Though chemotherapy helps shrink tumors and kill cancer cells, it has side effects like vomiting, tiredness, and vulnerability to infections.

Dental checkups and treatment are crucial at the onset of the disease to reduce its effects on the patient's life. Regular checkups and following the doctor’s advice in case of any symptoms can help you prevent oral cancer from progressing.

Find an Experienced South Coast Dentist Near Me

Finding a trusted dental care provider is crucial for maintaining oral health and preventing severe conditions like oral cancer. At South Coast Dentistry, located on the South Coast, we have helped patients discover their cancer conditions and developed working treatment plans. If you have symptoms indicating possible cancerous cell or tumor growth in your mouth, call us at 949-274-9086 to book your appointment.